Cold Justice (Episode 2)
by Zanza8
Summary: Nick is sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder.
1. Chapter 1

**Episode 2 of Zootopia, The Virtual Season. You can find all the episodes in Zootopia Communities, where the season is listed under my name.**

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"The defendant will please rise." The red fox stood, staring into space, as the judge leaned forward. "Do you have anything to say before I pass sentence?"

"No, your honor."

She sat back. "Nicholas Piberius Wilde, you have been found guilty of murder in the first degree." The elephant picked up her gavel. "I sentence you to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Bailiff, do your duty." She banged the gavel, and an armadillo stepped forward to snap cuffs on Nick and march him out the door as the judge looked after them, shaking her head.


	2. Chapter 2

_One month earlier:_

 _"Nick! Help!"_

 _Judy was down and Nick shouted, "I'm in trouble too!" He pushed at the restraining paws, then gave up and lay still. "All right, you got me."_

 _At least a dozen children of varying species, both prey and predators, jumped up cheering triumphantly as the fox and the bunny admitted defeat. An elderly badger beamed from the sidelines, calling, "That was the winning point!"_

 _Nick trotted over. "I didn't think we were keeping score, Sister Margaret."_

 _"We're not." She lowered her voice. "I just thought you and Judith could use a break."_

 _The fox chuckled. " **I** could." He looked over at Judy as the youngsters surrounded her, all talking a mile a minute. "I think Judy could do that forever."_

 _Sister Margaret saw how Nick looked at the bunny with the children and smiled gently. "It's a shame she doesn't have any little ones of her own." Nick didn't respond and after a moment she went on. "And how are you, Nicholas? It took you a long time to find your way back to us."_

 _The fox raised his eyebrows. "I've been giving the orphanage almost every penny I make for years."_

 _"I'm not talking about money." The badger patted his arm. "I'm talking about why you ran away. Did we treat you so badly?"_

 _Nick looked surprised. "If you had treated me badly, I wouldn't have given you a second thought." He fell silent. "I didn't want to leave. After my mother died, Thorneycroft was the only place willing to take in a fox."_

 _"Then why, Nicholas?" The badger looked at him appealingly. "You don't have to tell me, but over the years, every time I prayed for you, I wondered why you left."_

 _The fox sighed. "Something happened to me a couple of weeks before my mother died, and it changed me, changed how I saw myself." His voice trailed away and it was a long moment before he resumed. "It broke my mother's heart. And then she died, and...and I didn't want to get close to anyone again. So as soon as I could live on my own…"_

 _"At twelve years old?" Sister Margaret shook her head._

 _"That's old enough. I made enough to take care of myself and help out the orphanage. I wasn't doing so bad."_

 _"Are you doing better now?"_

 _Judy waved at Nick and he smiled. "Yeah. A lot better." His cell phone rang. "Yes, Chief?" He listened for a moment, then hung up and called, "Carrots! Bogo wants us!"_


	3. Chapter 3

Stormford Correctional Facility loomed in the distance. It was still miles away, but it was so big it stood out in the desert like some huge ancient creature that irresistibly drew the eye to itself. The tiger across the aisle from Nick snarled in anger, then looked over at him. "See that, cop? They put it out there on the other side of Sahara Square because even if you escape, you still have the desert to cross. No one's ever made it out. They get caught, or they die." Nick didn't even look at him and the tiger sneered, "Don't matter to you, though. We're going to kill you."

The bus finally made it and Nick walked out, gasping in the unaccustomed heat. After the air-conditioning, it was like standing in front of an open furnace and he felt light-headed as the guards, a pair of leopards, took him and the tiger inside, where they were searched, issued prison clothing, and taken to their cellblock. The tiger watched eagerly as the guards walked away, waiting until they went through the cellblock door before going up to Nick and pushing him against the bars. "This is it for you, cop."

Several other prisoners crowded around and an angry hum went up. The fox struggled in the tiger's grip but he knew it was hopeless. Even if he could get loose, the others would finish him off. The memory of the first time he ever saw Judy Hopps flashed across Nick's mind, standing up for him against an elephant so he could buy a popsicle. Judy wouldn't want him to go down without a fight, and for the first time in his life he bared his teeth and bit another animal, drawing blood.

The tiger howled with pain and unsheathed his claws and Nick flinched. Then the big animal slammed into him and his head hit the bars. The fox dropped to the floor, shaking his head to clear it, and a huge polar bear lifted him to his feet while another bear dragged the tiger away through the rapidly dispersing prisoners.

Nick forced a grin. "Thanks."

The polar bear brushed him off. "You okay? Mr Big don't want nothing happening to you. We knew you was coming in but we wasn't expecting them to move on you this fast."

"Neither was I." Nick felt the back of his head and winced, noting with relief that at least there was no blood. "I'm good. Thank Mr Big for me, will you?"

"Sure." The polar bear clapped Nick on the back and the fox's knees buckled. "He wants you to know you got nothing to worry about. As the partner of his granddaughter's godmother, you're safe as long as you're in for."


	4. Chapter 4

Nick leaned against the wall in the exercise yard, watching apathetically as the other prisoners played basketball and lifted weights. His whole world had shrunk in a matter of days to a routine of getting up, tidying his cell, and going to work in the prison laundry. He was losing track of time. Had he been here a week, or was it already a month? He closed his eyes against the bright sunlight, wishing for his sunglasses.

A booming voice invaded his ears. "I heard about you on the news but I couldn't believe it!"

Nick opened his eyes to see the former mayor, Leodore Lionheart, standing in front of him. The big lion had lost none of his genial manner and he seemed oddly delighted to see the fox that had helped put him behind bars.

"Couldn't believe what?" Nick's voice was very quiet. "Couldn't believe a cop could go bad?"

"Oh, no, that's not it!" Lionheart chuckled. "If Bellwether could be a criminal mastermind, anyone could go wrong, especially a fox. No, I couldn't believe they let you on the force in the first place. Even with my mammal inclusion initiative I would never have let a fox join the police."

"Tactful as ever," murmured Nick.

"No hard feelings though!" Lionheart spread his paws. "In fact, this might have been the best thing that ever happened to me. I've only got a year to go and I've already got a book deal. Who knows? I might even go back into politics someday." Lionheart paused but Nick was silent and after a moment he asked, "So just what are you in for, Wilde?"

The fox hesitated, then said in a flat voice, "You remember Bellwether had accomplices? Three rams?" Lionheart nodded, and Nick went on. "We picked up two of them right away, but the third one, Doug Ramses, the one who cooked the Night Howlers toxin and shot the predators, he was a little harder to find. We finally located him and Judy and me went to pick him up." A spasm of pain twisted the fox's face. "He...he killed...Judy trying to get away from us. And then I killed him. And now here I am, for the rest of my life. No parole." He paused, then said very softly, "It was worth it."

Lionheart had no use for foxes but Judy Hopps had been something special. He thought of the day she graduated the police academy, all bright eyes and big hopes, and he felt an unaccustomed pang of sympathy. "I'm sorry to hear about Officer Hopps."

"Thanks." Nick mustered a ghost of a smile. "At least no one will ever have to worry about Bellwether and her goons again. We got them all." He lifted himself off the wall and walked away slowly, his head bent, and Lionheart watched him go, the pang of sympathy growing in a way that was almost painful.


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later Nick was in the prison cafeteria, poking listlessly at an undercooked potato, when Lionheart sat down across from him. "This seat taken?"

"Take the whole table." The fox pushed his plate away and started to get up.

Lionheart leaned forward. "See here, Wilde, you can't just mope for the rest of your life." Nick looked pointedly around the room at the dim grey walls and the guards moving among the prisoners, and the lion held up his paws. "All right, I admit your outlook is rather bleak. That's no reason to give up on life."

"Isn't it?" asked Nick dully. "I don't have anything left to live for."

"I've been giving that some thought." Lionheart sounded as pompous as if he were still in charge of Zootopia.

Nick was intrigued. He sat back down and waved a paw. "Go on."

The big lion cleared his throat. "I've been talking to the warden…"

"The _warden_?"

"Yes, of course. When I was mayor, I kept a very close eye on this place. Wolford is an old friend."

"Wolford…" Nick mused. "I used to work with an Officer Wolford."

"That's the warden's second cousin. Anyway, like I said, I've been talking to Wolford. About you, Wilde. I think you could be a trusty. Maybe even go to college. You could be the test case for a new program of rehabilitating prisoners."

Despite himself, the fox was mildly amused. "Did you forget I was sentenced to life in prison without parole? There's no point in trying to rehabilitate me."

"Well, no, actually I didn't forget that." Lionheart looked unusually serious. "I just can't help feeling bad about your partner." Nick's eyes glittered and the lion went on hastily. "I know about you. You were a two-bit con artist when you met Judy Hopps and you turned your life around."

"A lot of good it did me," said Nick bitterly.

"You can still do some good. If you were to cooperate, help develop a rehabilitation program…" The lion spread his paws. "That would help a lot of animals who do still have a chance on the outside. I think your partner would have liked that."

"And just what would _you_ get out of it?" asked the fox suspiciously.

The lion squirmed. "As I told you, I have a book deal. To write my memoirs. It would be a fantastic addition to the book to write about my efforts to implement a rehabilitation program while I was still a prisoner." Only years of practice in not letting anyone see they got to him prevented Nick from lunging across the table at Lionheart, but there must have been something in his still face because the ex-mayor pulled his chair back from the table to put some distance between them. "Look, Wilde, I'm not going to pretend I'm some noble servant of the animals. I made a bad mistake, mostly out of my own self-interest, but I really was impressed by Officer Hopps. She was a credit to Zootopia." The lion's eyes dropped and his voice softened. "I want to do something to honor her memory. That's the truth. Think about it."


	6. Chapter 6

"Nick Wilde!" Warden Wolford, a big grey timber wolf, came around his desk to offer his paw. Nick gave it a quick shake and sat down, uninvited, in the chair in front of Wolford's desk. The warden narrowed his eyes but maintained a cordial tone as he sat in his own big chair. "Mr Wilde, before Leodore was arrested, he and I worked very closely together on ideas to improve the prison."

"Really?" The fox sounded surprised. "I did not know that. When might some improvement be made?"

Wolford's smile froze, then he managed a small chuckle. "Prisoners never appreciate the work that goes into this place. Be that as it may, Leodore thinks you would be a good test case for a rehabilitation program. As a police officer…"

"I'm not a cop anymore," said Nick swiftly.

The wolf bowed his head. "Of course. I should have said _ex_ -police officer. You were a public servant, Mr Wilde. If you still have any concern for the public, you should do what you can to help rehabilitate animals who can benefit from a second chance."

"And just what help would you like from me?" asked the fox dryly.

"I've read your file," answered Wolford. "You were quite the actor, running cons all over the city for twenty years. When Officer Hopps met you…" Nick gave no reaction at the mention of the bunny's name and after a moment the warden went on. "She wrote an incident report that day. It seems you were masquerading, very successfully, as a loving father who only wanted to buy his little boy a popsicle. She was quite touched by your performance. Also rather irritated when she discovered it _was_ a performance. Then there was your act in the museum, pretending to go savage to trick Mayor Bellwether into revealing her scheme to start a war between prey and predators, actually going so far as to bite your partner on the throat!" Something came and went in Nick's eyes and the wolf paused. "Something wrong, Mr Wilde?"

"Not at all," said Nick evenly. "This all sounds fascinating. Do go on."

The warden hesitated, then said slowly, "Perhaps with your gifts, you might head up a drama club. The prison psychologist thinks it could be beneficial to the animals to participate in drama, using fictional situations to express their real feelings."

"That _does_ sound like something I could work on," said Nick. He stood up. "Do you mind if we talk about this more at another time? I'm not feeling well...probably something I ate at lunch." He smiled apologetically. "Maybe the menu could be one of those areas of improvement."

Wolford laughed with genuine amusement. "That suggestion has been made before, Mr Wilde, but I will certainly take it under advisement. I'll send for you again." He pressed a buzzer and two guards, a reindeer and a moose, opened the office door and escorted Nick back to his cellblock.

He ran into one of Mr Big's polar bears, then wandered down to the TV room. Lionheart was there, holding forth to a bored group about the snow leopard anchor of the news show they were watching. "Fabienne Growley was always one of my favorite reporters. Fair, balanced…" Lionheart sighed at the screen. "And easy on the eyes." He caught sight of Nick and hurried over. "So how did it go with Wolford?"

The reindeer and the moose peered in the door of the TV room and came in, heading straight for Nick, who gave Lionheart a sickly smile. "Not very well." The fox looked around but there was no other door to the big room. "It's been nice knowing you, Lionheart." The prisoners scattered as the guards grabbed Nick and dragged him away, leaving the lion standing there with a bewildered expression on his face.


	7. Chapter 7

The guards hauled Nick back to Wolford's office and stood in front of the warden's desk, holding tightly to the fox's arms as he made one desperate attempt to free himself at the sight of the animal standing next to the big wolf. There was no getting away, and Nick stood there quietly as Dawn Bellwether walked up to him, looking him up and down with a bemused expression. "So what was it, Nick?" asked the sheep in her quavering voice. "I was watching you from the bathroom, I saw something Wolfie said got to you."

The fox said coldly, "Judy and me never told anyone about how I bit her on the throat. Even between us, we didn't talk about it. And you never mentioned it either. At least not in any official records. So how did _Wolfie_ here know about it?"

Bellwether laughed merrily. "Imagine a little thing like that tipping you off! Not that it matters. You'll be joining Judy soon enough. But before you go, there's one thing I've always wanted to ask you." The little sheep came right up to the fox's face, staring into his eyes. "I totally believed you had gone savage. I helped develop the Night Howler toxin, I saw what happened to predators after they were darted." Her voice dropped and her eyes glowed. "The best was when I could go with Doug and watch him shoot somebody. _Watch_ them go savage. And you, Nick...you were the best of them all. You totally fooled me. Or did you? Did you _enjoy_ it? Seeing the fear in Judy's eyes, feeling her throat in your mouth?" Bellwether was so close Nick could feel her breath on his face. "Did you _want_ to bite down? Taste her blood? Be the savage predator you were always biologically predisposed to be?"

Nick thought back to that night in the museum with Judy and that terrible moment when they realized there was no escape.

 _Judy thrust the case at Nick. "Take the case. Get it to Bogo."_

 _He was appalled. "I'm not gonna leave you behind. That's not happening."_

 _"I can't walk." She held the case out, looking at him pleadingly._

 _"Just…" The fox held up a paw. "We'll think of something." The blueberries caught his eye and he snatched the case and opened it, taking out the gun and extracting the pellet of Night Howler serum._

 _"What are you doing?" whispered Judy._

 _"What do you think Bellwether would have done if you gave her the case?" Nick loaded the gun with blueberries and went on without waiting for an answer. "She would have shot me and I would have killed you." His voice shook but his paws were steady as he tucked the gun back in its case. "I say we give her what she wants. If she thinks I've gone savage and you're about to die, she'll talk her head off. All you have to do is record it." He held up the carrot pen._

 _The bunny took the pen, then shook her head violently. "Nick, no! I don't want you to do that."_

 _Nick looked searchingly at Judy. Her eyes were full of tears but her nose was completely still. "Not afraid of me, are you?" he asked teasingly._

 _"Oh, Nick!" Judy buried her face in his chest and his arms went around her. For a brief moment they clung to each other, then she sat back and said fiercely, "Let's do this."_

Nick's expression relaxed and his eyes softened as he got lost in his memories and Bellwether snapped, "Are you listening to me?"

He came back from his reverie and smiled mirthlessly. "I was just thinking of something myself. How you stood there after you shot me, right at the edge of the pit, watching me go after Judy. You _wanted_ to see it all, the pain and the fear and the blood." He leaned over so he could look directly in her eyes. "Is that what's really bothering you, Dawnie? That the closest you could get was watching, that you're just not _equipped_ to tear someone apart yourself?" Bellwether was breathing very fast, her face going red, and Nick said mockingly, "That's it, isn't it? You'd like to be a predator yourself, instead of a weak little sheep with a bad hairstyle and no sense of fashion."

Bellwether screamed then, hitting Nick across the face with her hoof and splitting his cheek open and Wolford grabbed her and held her back. "Get him out of here! Make it look like an accident!"

"A _painful_ accident!" howled Bellwether.

The guards pulled the fox over to the door and opened it to find Lionheart standing there. The ex-mayor took in the scene, the bleeding fox in the grip of two guards, the hysterical sheep held tightly by the warden, and he took a step into the room, frowning. "What the devil is going on here, Wolford?"

"This fox attacked me!" shouted Wolford. He gestured to the guards. "Take him to solitary."

They nodded and tightened their grip on Nick as he struggled with them. "Don't listen to them, Lionheart! What do you think Bellwether is doing here?"

"That's a very good question, Wolford," said Lionheart. "Dawn Bellwether is a dangerous prisoner with a personal grudge against this fox. Why was she here while you were talking to him?"

"Wolfie! I want that lion dead too!" screamed the little sheep.

Lionheart blinked in surprise, then dropped his big paws on the guard's shoulders, unsheathing his claws. "Before you two do anything you might regret, let's all just take a moment to calm down."

"This is none of your business, Leodore," the warden blustered. Bellwether kept trying to pull away from him and he had his paws full trying to restrain her. "Nothing's going to happen to Wilde. He's just being taken to solitary."

"Like this?" Nick held up a paw red with blood.

Lionheart's eyes narrowed. "He has a point, Wolford. He should go to the infirmary first."

The warden bared his teeth and pulled open a drawer, taking out a gun and pointing it at Lionheart, then he jerked back, clawing at a steel dart in his shoulder. His eyes rolled up in his head and he fell to the floor, the gun dropping from his paw. Bellwether scrambled for it, and Chief Bogo shoved Lionheart and the guards aside to put his hoof on the gun. Behind him, several other officers grabbed the guards and hustled them out the door, while Bogo snapped cuffs on Bellwether and shoved her at Francine, the elephant officer from Precinct One. "Take her to the hospital. Psychiatric ward."

"You got it, Chief." The elephant held the tiny sheep off the ground as she shrieked curses at them all. "What about Nick?"

The fox was huddled on the floor, holding both paws to his bleeding face, and Bogo knelt next to him. "Let me see." Nick lowered his paws and the cape buffalo whistled softly. "That looks bad. I'm going to take you to the prison infirmary to get it patched up, but you're going to need to go to the hospital yourself, Wilde."

"Good thing it's not the morgue, Chief," said the fox as Bogo helped him up. "It would have been if it wasn't for Lionheart here stalling them." He looked keenly at the big lion. "Just how _did_ you happen to show up?"

"I didn't like the way the guards took you away so I followed you." Bogo and Nick started out the door and Lionheart roared, "Just a minute! I demand to know what's going on!"

Bogo and Nick exchanged a look and the cape buffalo said gruffly, "Well, come on, then. I suppose you've earned an explanation."


	8. Chapter 8

_One month earlier:_

 _Bogo came over to Judy as she stood at the one-way mirror, watching Nick with the big ram in the interrogation room. "What is it, Hopps?"_

 _She rapped on the mirror and Nick came out into the hallway. "We may have a tip."_

 _Bogo glared. "You called me down here for a tip?"_

 _"It's a pretty big tip, sir," said Judy. "That's Doug Ramses, the chemist who created the Night Howler toxin." Bogo raised his eyebrows and the bunny went on. "He said there's still one member of Bellwether's gang on the loose."_

 _"So?" The cape buffalo was clearly trying to be patient. "Go pick them up."_

 _"It's not that easy." Nick opened the door. "I think you should hear this for yourself."_

 _Sighing, Bogo followed the fox and the bunny into the interrogation room, where the ram glared sullenly at all of them. "I want a deal before I say anything else."_

 _"A deal?" Bogo sat down across from the ram. "What makes you think you have anything worth a deal?"_

 _"Oh, I have something." Doug tapped his hooves together. "Something so big if you don't act on it, it may be a fatal mistake."_

 _The chief's eyes flashed but his voice was calm. "Tell me what you know. If it's good enough, I give you my word I'll do what I can for you."_

 _The ram chewed his lip. "You know how Lionheart took all the animals that went savage and locked them up in that asylum?" Bogo nodded. "Ever wonder how he knew about where to find those animals so quick?"_

 _Bogo and Judy and Nick traded glances, remembering how the jam cams showed Lionheart's wolves showing up to collect Mr Manchas right after he was shot. "Go on," said Bogo slowly._

 _"Bellwether had a middleman that phoned in anonymous tips to Lionheart. I don't know who. All I can tell you is it was someone working at the prison. I overheard her one time on the phone talking to them, and I heard her mention Stormford." Doug looked anxiously at Bogo. "That's worth something, right? After what that crazy sheep did, you don't want one of her animals working at the prison, do you?"_

 _Bogo's jaw tightened. "If it checks out, it's worth something."_

Lionheart watched in fascination as the prison doctor worked on Nick's face. "So all this time Wilde was working undercover?" Bogo nodded and the ex-mayor gave a hearty laugh. "I knew it! I knew it was an act. You didn't fool me for a minute, Wilde."

"Just couldn't pull the wool over your eyes, could I?" The fox flinched as the doctor put in one last stitch and reached for the tape.

Bogo remembered finding Nick muzzled with tape at a chop shop and took a step forward. "All right there, Wilde?"

The fox swallowed hard. "Okay, Chief."

Bogo said quietly to the doctor, "Don't put too much tape on his face." The doctor nodded and the chief turned to Lionheart. "Francine's mother is a judge, so we had her sentence Wilde to prison. I left Clawhauser in charge in my absence and Francine and I took rooms in a hostel across the street from Stormford to be ready when we got the call." He glared at Nick. "I wasn't expecting a message from one of Mr Big's polar bears."

Nick was breathing fast as the doctor applied tape to his face and he seemed grateful for the distraction. "The warden told me something he shouldn't have known about and I didn't know how long it would be before he realized he slipped up, so I wanted to get a message to you as quick as I could and I knew the bear could call right away."

"At any rate, those were the only animals in on the plan," said Bogo. "We knew so little we didn't dare let anyone at the prison know what we were up to, not even the warden."

"Good thing you didn't," said Lionheart. "You wouldn't have lasted a day, Wilde."

The doctor finished with the taping and Nick felt his face, sighing with relief. "I still don't understand why you followed me."

"Like I said, I didn't like the way the guards took you away. I told you I was working with Wolford on improving the prison. That included relations between the guards and the prisoners. When I got here, there was a lot of good interaction, exactly the way I wanted it, until those two guards came for you." The lion grinned sheepishly. "I didn't think they were going to hurt you. I just wanted to remind Wolford that…" He looked straight into Nick's eyes. "I thought it was high time I told Wolford that even foxes deserve to be treated with respect."

Nick smiled as widely as he could with the tape on his face. "I appreciate that, sir."

Lionheart's eyes widened. "If this was all a trick…"

"Officer Hopps is alive and well," said Bogo, smiling himself. "She's staying with friends and Ramses is in protective custody."


	9. Chapter 9

Judy ran down the steps of the Thorneycroft Orphan's Home as Nick walked up the sidewalk. "Oh, Nick!" She stopped short at the sight of the heavy bandage on one side of his face. "You didn't tell me it was that bad."

"It's not." The fox held out his arms. "Get in here."

The bunny threw herself at him and buried her face in his chest. "I don't _ever_ want to do this again."

"Me either. Next time you can go undercover and I'll hang out here taking it easy." Nick grinned as Judy pulled back, sputtering indignantly.

"Easy! Do you think it was _easy_ , waiting around? Not being able to help? Not knowing what was happening to you?"

He saw the pain in her eyes and his own turned serious. "I don't suppose it was, Carrots. At least it's over now. Wolford and those two guards were the last of Bellwether's animals and they're all locked up and charged with attempted murder of a police officer. They won't be going anywhere for a long, long time."

They started up the lawn to the orphanage. "Did Wolford ever say why he was involved with Bellwether?" asked Judy.

"Not really." Nick rubbed the bandage, wincing.

Judy looked sympathetic. "Does it hurt?"

"It's not too bad. The doctor gave me something for the pain, and I have to go back in ten days to get the stitches out. I just hope it doesn't leave a scar." The fox's eyes darkened. "I don't want a reminder of Bellwether every time I look in the mirror."

The bunny laid a soft velvet paw on the fox's arm. "Nick…"

He put his paw over hers. "It's all right. Either way, it's all right." For a moment they were silent, then he said briskly, "Wolford isn't talking, at least nothing that makes any sense, but I think maybe he just…" Nick shook his head. "Honestly, I think maybe he had _feelings_ for Bellwether. She was definitely the one in charge, she gave all the orders, he followed her around like a cub." Nick shivered. "I tell you, Carrots, I was born a fox but that little sheep...she had more of the soul of a predator than any animal I ever met. Maybe that's what Wolford liked about her. Anyway, she's in the prison ward for the criminally insane and I hope she stays there for the rest of her life."

"We can hope. Doug is gone too. You know how he got a deal for his information?" Judy giggled. "Instead of prison, he was sent to a work farm three hundred miles from Zootopia. And remember how before you went inside, Mr Big promised to have his animals protect you?"

Nick nodded. "He kept his word. If he hadn't, I never would have made it."

"Well, before Doug was taken out of the city, Mr Big sent him a message, promising to ice him if either of us got so much as a bent claw."

Sister Margaret came out on the porch surrounded by children as Nick and Judy climbed up the steps. The badger held up an imperious paw. "I want you all to be careful. You can see Nicholas is hurt."

"I'm all right." Nick's sharp green eyes twinkled as Judy gathered the children and took them into the orphanage. "And as long as Judy's around, I don't have to do anything anyway." He turned serious. "I want to thank you for letting her stay here."

"It was my pleasure, Nicholas." Sister Margaret smiled at him fondly. "I can see that as long as Judith is around, I don't have to worry about you at all."


End file.
